The case can be seen this way - Mysore (erstwhile Kingdom - not ruled by British or India) needed to tide over frequent droughts. Dams were built to address
the situation. Many acres of land were submerged in Mysore (current Karnataka) to the dam waters. But the Kingdom benefited
from this. Money, land, labour was all provided by Mysore (not India, not British, not Tamil Nadu or Madras)
Kaveri does not generate water on its own - the water is collected from the catchment areas in Mysore during the rains.
Vast areas of land which were earlier submerged downstream, now came up. This was immediately reclaimed by Madras for
agriculture. Due to proximity to British, it was able to extract a favorable ruling. (The same applies to Mula-periyar with
which TN is fighting Kerala)
This meant all resources and foresight of Mysore for its prosperity and benefit was laid waste by Madras.
Karnataka has one rain season from the SouthWest Monsoon whereas TN has two - one from NorthEast and other from SouthWest
monsoon. (http://www.tn.gov.in/crop/rainfall.htm) Despite the two monsoons, why has TN not invested in building dams to store water in the Kaveri basin within its territory? simple it needs money to be invested and also lands will be submerged within its area. So its better that karnataka and Kerala build the dams with their money and lose their lands to provide water to TN.
The irony came to fore during the recent spate of floods - it accused Karnataka of releasing Kaveri waters causing more floods in TN. Common sense did not prevail to see that holding back a gushing river can cause a dam burst as well as flooding in Karnataka. So TN expects Karnataka to wag to its whimsies - hold water for us and release it as it pleases us.
The underlying point is - the Maharaja of Mysore blundered by deciding to merge with India. The demography of India was widely different from Mysore. Mysore/Karnataka had/has no problems - population density,
illiteracy, higher education, civil administration, judiciary, social equality.
The result are for all to see. Pls refer to the site of Union Ministry of Statistics
(http://mospi.nic.in/6_gsdp_cur_9394ser.htm) which confirms Karnataka growing at over 14% p.a. against the Union Of India's
growth of 9% p.a.
But history cannot be reversed and now we are part of the Union of India.
Consider the industries - hi-tech or manufacturing or aviation - Karnataka beats the Union.
But it suffers a body blow to its political aspirations because of less population - only 20 seats to the Union parliament.
Over the years, it has received step-motherly treatment vis-a-vis its populous neighbors.
Corporate earnings, service taxes and IT exports are filling the Union coffers with little coming back to the state. Name one
Kannadiga minister in the Union Cabinet over the last 60 years.
Consider TNs clout - Finance, telecom, health - all with tamils. See the way Dayanidhi Maran is functioning - not as Telecom
minister of the Union but of TN. Just see the no. of telecom projects he has diverted to TN at the expense of other states.
No matter what you call this, democracy as practised in India is flawed. It is more of mobocracy - vote-banks rules. The
results are obvious, you have smaller states feeling a sense of alienation. If this sense of alienation and lack of political equality is not addressed, it may prompt armed rebellion like what is already seen in the North-East.
Why cant India become a democracy in true terms like the United Kingdom and the USofA. Let each state have equal
representation in the upper house - say 4 seats per state. This will counterbalance the current advantage held by the
populous states. Why cant we become the United States of India?
Once this happens, all such trivial disputes will be resolved amicably. If TN wants water cached on Karnataka land, it pays a
premium to get it (for maintaining the dam as well as for the lands submerged due to the dam as well for maintaining the catchment areas to feed the river). To meet its water needs, it needs to build dams in the catchment areas in its territory. Bullying its neighbours Karnataka (over Kaveri) and Kerala (over mula-periyar) is no way for a civilized state to behave. TN cannot expect to raise 3 crops a season when Karnataka farmers do not have water to grow a decent 2 crops to sustain their households.
The whole world is watching Tamil behaviour to its neighbours both within the Union (Karnataka, Kerala and AP) and outside (Sri Lanka)
